Conquerors
by CappySam
Summary: What if Xena had never become good?
1. Xena

**_Disclaimer:_**

_I do not own any of the characters or places associated with the Xena world._

_The story starts out in season one. I've used a lot of original storylines from Xena (with minor editing), so a lot of this will be familiar.__Also, it is extremely hard for me to write Xena's character like this so she might be a bit off._

_I'm always trying to improve my writing so I'd love any feedback you could give :)_

**Chapter One - Xena**

"They're late."

Deimos looked next to him at the dark haired beauty. The warm noon-time sun was reflecting off her armour of black leather and a golden bronze breastplate with matching bands on her arms.

She continued to stare intently at the plane with sapphire eyes, ignoring her comrade's watch. His gaze shifted to the sword resting on her back, then the circular weapon on her hip. The chakram.

"They're moving slaves, Xena, it's not always easiest task." her fists tightened by her sides. "And Talus doesn't have much of a... iron fist." He ran a hand through short auburn hair.

Xena scowled. Talus wasn't one of her best, he was extremely expendable. She was giving him a chance to prove he could handle things, and she was regretting it.

Deimos was still watching her. "Want me to send someone out?" slowly she drew her eyes to him.

"No."

Xena turned her back to him and descended down the steep stone stairs to her right. The bottom opened out into a large base, protected by four large wall, trapping in the smell of sweat and blood, on that unusually hot day it was a very strong odor.

There was an area for practice sparring, complete with real weapons. Deimos had once tried to convince Xena to switch to wooden ones, knowing how into a battle her men got, it seemed best to avoid an unnecessary serious injury. At the back was a building where there were bunks for the soldiers, Xena's room, and Deimos's room (being Xena's second in command came with the benefit of not having to share bunks with the other men), a 'mess hall', and a cell for prisoners (more commonly hostages).

There was a medical wing by the wall to the far right. And to the far left was stables for the horses and a storage area for weapons and armor.

Deimos quickly followed after her as she watched men practicing. "Did we receive word from the centaurs?" she asked her back to Deimos.

"No, not yet."

Xena took in a heavy breath, looking at the sky then back at the men on the sparring sands. "When did we send them word?"

Deimos slowly answered back. "Ah... ten days ago, I believe."

It was moments like those he wished he could read her face. She was obviously annoyed a reply hadn't been sent, after all the centaurs were only a two day walk away, and that time could be cut short on horseback. But there were more layers of emotion hidden underneath that he couldn't figure out, and maybe it was best he didn't. Xena was temper mental; she'd not be pleased that Deimos was trying to 'understand' her.

She whipped around and walked off to her room.

Xena slammed open and closed the door to her room. There was a small neglected area for sitting, up a step was her bed, and behind a flimsy curtain was her bath. A smell of incense floated about the room, giving it a peaceful feel she didn't want.

Stiffly Xena sat down in a red velvet chair. Across from her was a window that gave her a clear view of the land she expected to see her men travelling on any minute. She stared for a long five minutes, and still saw no warriors with slaves terrified of their fate.

Xena got to her feet and unsheathed her sword, skillfully swinging it around her body.

For a woman who wasn't an Amazon, Xena was incredibly skilled with weapons and warfare. She'd been through so much war in her life, fought so many battles, suffered so much pain, it seemed even she was immune to redemption.

It had been easy to be a good person, a 'hero', but when she had decided to head the path on her own it all fell apart. Without Hercules to keep her grounded with her goals she easily slipped back into the darkness, a place of evil. A closed fist and bloody sword. It wasn't as hard for her to gather new warriors as it should have been, people were familiar with her deeds, they could easily overlook that she'd tried to change sides (some people didn't even believe it, which is the way she wanted it), and just like that she was the old Xena.

She mainly used others as pawns in her endless game of chess. But whenever Xena did something cruel there was that little ping of regret, a feeling leftover from her long conversations with Hercules. It was something Xena was still trying to extinguish.

Someone rapping on the door interrupted Xena's thoughts, she put her sword back in it's spot and pulled it open. "What?" she snapped, Deimos stood in the doorway.

"They're here."

Xena quickly pushed him aside and flew down the stairs and to the warm outside where the gates were opened and two cartfuls of people were being pulled in.


	2. Gabrielle

**Chapter Two - Gabrielle**

Water dripped down Gabrielle's hands as she carelessly skipped towards her home, letting the bucket swing back and forth. Her mind was running over a story she had to remember, the last thing on her mind was that the bucket was almost empty. By the time to home she'd have to turn back for more.

"Gabrielle!" A girl only a few years younger than Gabrielle came running towards her. "Gabrielle!"

Gabrielle stopped and waited for her littler sister. Lilla stopped in front of her, raven hair falling over her shoulders as she leaned on her legs to catch her breath.

"Is something wrong?" Gabrielle asked, instantly thinking of her mother. A women who sometimes pushed herself a little too much.

"No!" Lilla almost laughed and stood straighter, smiling at her sister. Gabrielle never understood why, but Lilla had a very curious admiration for Gabrielle. An admiration she couldn't understand.

"Well what is it?" Gabrielle asked.

"Perdicas is here to see you." Gabrielle had to stop herself from groaning. "And he brought you _flowers." _Lilla smiled a little bigger, taking the bucket from Gabrielle's hand so she could go visit her husband-to-be.

"Well, I better go see him then." Gabrielle muttered. Lilla tilted her head a bit.

"Gabrielle... you're not still upset about this? Perdicas loves you!"

"But I don't love him!" Gabrielle argued, and despite everything it could do for the two families, that was all that mattered for Gabrielle.

"Some of us should be so lucky to have someone like him." Lilla said.

"Enjoy your free years." Gabrielle half-joked, then quickly went towards their small wooden cottage.

Lilla looked in the bucket and sighed. "There's no water!"

But Gabrielle had quickly run around the house to the door, stepping inside to see Perdicas holding a pathetic bouquet of white flowers that were beginning to wilt. Gabrielle forced a smile. "Hello, Perdicas."

He smiled brightly at her, instantly pushing the flowers into her face. Gabrielle took them, gave them a once over, and set them onto the table. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I...uh.. wanted to talk to you about some things..." he spoke slowly, thinking over his words.

"What things?" Gabrielle asked, tucking strawberry blonde locks behind her ear, then crossing her arms over her chest.

He talked so slowly and sounded dumbfounded with each of his words, it drove Gabrielle crazy. If she could just get him to look at a scroll maybe he'd irk her less with his language skills. But she supposed it wasn't his fault. His family hadn't much need to teach him those things.

"Gabrielle, could we... go for a, uh, walk?"

Gabrielle held her smile but let out a heavy breath. "Sure."

* * *

><p>Lilla set the bucket down by the well and slowly went down to the creek. The water could wait a moment. She hummed to herself, letting her feet soak in the cool water.<p>

Gabrielle just didn't see how lucky she was. She had a man that loved her to no end, would give her the moon if she asked for it, yet she was so set against marrying him. Perdicas was a good man, a farmer. A few of Lilla's friends liked to talk about how they wished they could be Gabrielle. She had Perdicas, literally had him wrapped around her finger. Perdicas was fairly desired, yet he only desired Gabrielle.

Lilla closed her eyes and tilted her head back, breathing in the cleansing air. Such a beautiful day.

Then a hand clasped over her mouth.

* * *

><p>Gabrielle walked beside Perdicas, trying to listen as he spoke, but her mind kept drifting back to the story. It was about these two orphans who-<p>

"...and children-"

Gabrielle's mind came to attention. "Excuse me?" she stopped to face him.

But Perdicas never got a chance to repeat himself, a series of screams arose. They both looked down towards the edge of town, seeing a large group of people being pushed about.

"STOP!"

"NO!"

"HELP!"

Gabrielle broke into a run, Perdicas followed after her. She had to push her way to the front of the panicked people, most were women. The few men that were there had swords pointed at them. Perdicas tried to pull Gabrielle back but she went forward.

"Alright. Now despite certain orders, I'd like to keep this clean. So we'll be taking the women."

And hand grasped Gabrielle's arm tightly. It was Lilla, a bruise starting to swell on her cheek.

"You won't!" someone shouted. The man looked at them all.

He, and the men behind him all wore dark armour with an insignia like a figure eight on their right arm band.

"Talus, come on, lets just grab them and go. We've still gotta..." he trailed off.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Alright, come on." the man, 'Talus', reached out and pulled Lilla towards him.

"No!" Gabrielle shouted, pulling her sister back to her side.

"Take me! Leave the others!" she boldly stepped forward, she didn't mean to make herself seem like a prize, but she'd rather the others (particularly her baby sister) stay away from harms way. These soldiers clearly didn't work for the good side. Gabrielle didn't know why they wanted the women, but she had a faint idea what soldiers (or any man) could want with the,.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise, then smirked. "Oh we'll take you, and anybody else we want." he gripped Gabrielle's wrists tightly and flung her behind him into two men who held her just as strongly.

Gabrielle put up a fair struggle, but there wasn't a way for her to escape, nor anyone else. She just wasn't strong. Gabrielle continued to try and pull away as she was pushed into a cart with a cage on top. All the while she kept a careful eye on her sister.

Tears streamed down Lilla's face as she came into the cart, she isntantly wrapped her arms around Gabrielle. Gabrielle hugged her sister tightly.

"Gabrielle," Lilla choked through tears. "whats going to happen?"

Gabrielle didn't answer as more were crammed into the cart, people were pressed against the cage-like walls.

The men there tried to get past the swords. Gabrielle winced as she saw an elder man get sliced on his side, he fell to his knees as blood poured into the dirt.

"Gabrielle?" Lilla asked.

Gabrielle just shushed her, shooting a death glare at the man who'd grabbed her, but he only laughed as the horses began clopping away from the village.


	3. Soft

**Chapter Three - Soft**

Xena eyed the girls lined up before her. Talus, her most incompetent soldier, had scrounged them up from some village somewhere. They were all female. Someone buying a slave would want a female the majority of the time, especially if that 'someone' was a man. Xena guessed these girls were all about eighteen to twenty years of age.

Except for one.

"Talus." Xena called him over, staring into the eyes of the raven haired girl that stood out, she had to be at least fourteen.

Talus, sandy haired and desperate to stay as a soldier of Xena, was at her side in seconds.

"Xena." he said strongly, though he was almost shaking in fear of what she was going to say.

"You brought twenty girls." Xena still stared at the young girl.

"Yes."

"There's supposed to be twenty-one."

Talus cleared his throat nervously, stumbling over his next words. "We uh, couldn't get her."

Xena turned to him. "Why?"

Talus looked over at the other soldiers, but they wouldn't meet his eyes. He looked back to Xena. "Th-Th-they were gone."

Xena's brow furrowed. "What?"

"There were hardly any Amazons in the village, and not the one you wanted." Talus relaxed when she turned back to the girls.

"Where did they go?" Xena asked, stepping to the younger girl. Xena looked to the left at a red head who watched her all too intently.

Talus coughed. "We don't know."

"You couldn't find out?" Xena asked, she reached out and squeezed the girl's cheeks, turning her head side to side. Tears slipped down onto the warrior's fingertips. Talus didn't answer; he looked down at the ground. Xena wasn't expecting an answer, she was still looking at the girl.

"Abner." Xena spoke loudly, a man quickly stepped forward.

"Take her."

* * *

><p>Gabrielle watched intently as the warrior women examined Lilla.<p>

Aside from Gabrielle, all the girls were crying and muffling their sobs. They kept their heads low and prayed that this wasn't happening. But it was.

"There was hardly any Amazons in the village, and not the one you wanted."

Gabrielle remembered hearing them talk about this. She, Xena, had ordered them to kidnap the Amazon princess. Of course Gabrielle didn't know why, but this woman's notions could not be good.

She locked eyes with the woman's eyes, hers were like bright sapphires. Gabrielle's heart skipped a beat and she held her breath until the woman looked back to her sister. She knew who that was. At first it had just been a suspicion, but one look into those eyes, it was like a pool of sin and power. Control. Xena, the Warrior Princess.

Bards passing through Potidea told stories about her, awful stories. Gabrielle had only listened and learned them for the sake of being true to her trade. This woman had done horrible, cruel things. She could kill everyone there and (according to the stories) not have a resent in her heart. She had tried to kill Hercules, of all people. She was involved in the battle of Corinth. She'd done a long list of unbelievable things, evil things.

"Take her."

Gabrielle's eyes widened, she watched as soldier roughly grabbed Lilla's by the arms and pull her out of the line up and towards the building. Then, Gabrielle panicked. A million things raced through her mind, mainly what would happened to her little sister. They couldn't be separated.

"No!" Gabrielle shouted, everyone looked at her. Xena stared at Gabrielle harshly.

"Please don't take her!"

The guard rolled his eyes and once again began leading Lilla away. Gabrielle went to run up to her sister but a man was quick and grabbed Gabrielle's wrists. She couldn't pull away, but she still had use of her voice

"You can't take her!"

Xena took a few steps towards her, Gabrielle looked at her then back at Lilla. Her sister was starting to cry. Gabrielle again tried to pull away.

"Take me too! Please!"

Now Gabrielle and Xena held eye contact. Gabrielle would look away if she wasn't so afraid. Xena was expecting her to look away, and she didn't.

"Please." she lowered her voice. "I have to stay with her. I have to stay with my sister." Gabrielle didn't think begging would get her anywhere with this woman, and Gabrielle usually had more pride than that. But where would that get her?

Xena raised an eyebrow as they still watched each other. "Arrid." Xena spoke, breaking the odd silence. Arrid, the soldier holding Gabrielle looked to his leader. "Take her to my room."

Gabrielle's mouth formed an 'o' in shock, then let herself be towards the same large building. Gabrielle wasn't sure as if that had happened; the Xena she'd heard about couldn't have given in to Gabrielle's begging. It was impossible, yet this felt like a miracle.

As the sisters passed Gabrielle reached out to hold Lilla's hand once, but Arrid jerked her away.

"Let them." Xena ordered.

In disbelief the soldiers let the girls clasp hands.

* * *

><p>Xena watched as the remaining women were pushed into the cart, they'd be taken to a large village and sold as slaves, then Xena's soldiers would return with a fair amount of coin. It was standard regulation for this business. What would become of the money was an indefinite question mark.<p>

Xena walked along, watching the operation carefully when Deimos was at her side. Utterly confused.

"Xena, what in the name of Ares was that?"

"What?" Xena asked, growing quickly annoyed with him.

"That! You took the young one away, which I just barely understand, but you know any man of any type would pay heavily for her." Xena's expression remained unreadable. "Then you let the other one, the 'sister', stay for no reason!" Deimos couldn't believe this. Either Xena had some ulterior motive, or she was just... getting soft.

"Why?" he questioned, the Xena he'd served under for the past months would never do something remotely close to that.

Xena kept her eyes forward, looking at nothing in particular. "She reminds me of someone I knew once."


	4. The First Meeting

**Chapter Four - The First Meeting**

Gabrielle let out a quiet moan. She could barely feel her arms, they'd been tied above her head far longer than she cared to remembered. Across from her was Lilla in the same sitting position with her arms above her head. A cool night breeze sent a chill down Gabrielle's spine.

"Lilla?" Gabrielle asked, unsure if she had fallen asleep. Lilla flopped her head forward, eyes open. They were red, she'd spent a lot of their time crying, and Gabrielle couldn't comfort her.

"Hmm?"

"I was just seeing if your awake."

Lilla gave her a sad smile. Gabrielle looked up at her wrists and sighed.

"What do you think she wants?" Lilla asked quietly. Gabrielle looked back at Lilla, but never got a chance to answer.

A men entered, dressed in dark armour similar to every other soldiers. He looked at Gabrielle then Lilla. "You." he pointed and walked towards her, pulling a knife out from his belt. Gabrielle was startled for a moment till she saw him cut the ropes and pull Lilla to her feet.

Relief washed over Lilla's face as she dropped her arms to her side, she realized now how she took advantage of something like that, and many other little things (like how soft her bed was compared to the stone floor). She awkwardly matched the mans pace as he brought her up a set of stairs and down a short hall.

Lilla crossed her arms uncomfortably, she wasn't sure what to do. The moment the ropes had been cut loose she thought of making a run for it, but she wasn't so naive that she didn't know how foolish that would be.

Her 'escort', knocked on the door, the noise echoing down to where Gabrielle sat.

"Come in." Lilla cringed, she recognized that voice. It was the woman from earlier.

The man opened the door and shoved Lilla inside, then quickly shut it. Lilla was in a fair sized room, but she didn't pay attention to any of it, only the soft aroma filling her nostrils. Like the woods, with flowers and fresh crisp air. It made Lilla feel a little at ease, and homesick. Till she noticed the dark haired woman sitting in a chair staring at her, then all her feelings were replaced with fear.

Xena eyed her. She was so petite, especially compared to Xena. She would get taller, but Xena doubted her overall frame would change at all.

"Hello." Xena greeted, sounded a little sarcastic. Lilla took in a deep breath.

"H-H-H-Hi." she said quietly.

Xena made a motion for her to sit down, Lilla did so very frightened and timidly. She kept her eyes on the cracks in the stone floor, feeling the woman's gaze on her.

"What's your name?" Xena asked.

"Lilla." she choked out.

"Speak up." Xena ordered.

"Lilla." she said at a level Xena approved of.

"How old are you?"

"I'm... I'm fifteen years... old..."

"Young." Xena said to herself. "I would have wagered you were fourteen."

"My... my birthday was just a few days before your men came." Lilla explained.

Xena nodded as Lilla slowly drew her gaze to the blue eyes that stared so intently. "You don't know who I am."

It wasn't a question, but Lilla gave an answer. "No."

Xena _almost _smiled. "Have you ever heard of the 'Battle of Corinth'?"

Lilla's brow furrowed. It sounded familiar. Where had she heard that before? Oh. Gabrielle. It had been a while ago, Gabrielle had been reciting a story about two orphans when she'd dragged off topic to the bard that had passed through the village that day. Then Gabrielle had been talking about what the bard had been talking about, which was the Battle of Corinth. Gabrielle hardly remembered anything about the story, and Lilla recalled her asking the adults around town, they'd simply brushed it off as some fiction story (but Gabrielle later reported to Gabrielle how they'd all tensed up when the topic was raised) Lilla didn't understand, nothing about war and combat interested her. Gabrielle equally hated it (but also held a fascination to the lesser points of mankind), but still ranted on for an hour about it.

"...My sister mentioned it once."

Xena got to her feet and began slowly pacing in front of Lilla, who was feeling much calmer than before. For a woman who was supposed to be one of the most feared in Greece (according to Gabrielle's story), she had a curious way of manipulating others feelings to make them feel comfortable.

"It was quite the battle." Xena mused for a moment, then stopped walking and faced Lilla. "Stand up."

Lilla did so immediately. Xena stood much taller than her, it was very intimidating. "You're very obedient." Xena acknowledged.

Lilla tilted her head a bit. That was an odd thing to say, although these circumstances were fairly odd. "My mother raised me well." Xena nodded.

"I can tell." Xena said. "Do you have any skills?"

"I'm sorry? Skills?"

"If I'm going to keep you here I need to know if you can do anything. Otherwise, what use are you to me?"

Her last sentence sent a chill through Lilla, so she said the first thing that came to her mind. "Cook. I can cook."

Xena sat back down. Lilla shifted for a moment, thinking if she would talk to Gabrielle after she was done with her. Then another question came to mind, but Lilla was hesitant to ask it. Then, her sister came into her head. Gabrielle. Bold Gabrielle, who always asked questions (no matter how mindless).

Lilla took in a deep breath. "Why... why d-did you keep me here?"

Xena shot a glare at her. That comfortable feeling that Xena had manipulated her into disappeared. For two long minutes Xena stared into Lilla's eyes and Lilla stared at the floor. "Don't ever ask me that again." Lilla bit her lip, trembling in her spot. "Now go."

Lilla scurried to the door, about to pull it open but stopped, then turned back to Xena. "Uh... ma'am? Er..."

"Xena." the warrior said slowly and clearly.

"Xena." Lilla repeated. "I-I-I know how... how out of line this is..." Lilla's voice lowered, she cleared her throat and spoke louder. "..out of line this is, but... can you do something for me?"

"Why in the gods names would I do something for you?" Xena asked, she'd lost her entertainment with this girl, she was growing irritated.

Lilla tried not to let that phase her, but it felt like a dagger in her stomach being talked to so harshly. "Why did you keep us here?"

Xena was silent for a moment.

"Out." she said sternly. Lilla obeyed.


	5. The Second Meeting

**Chapter Five - The Second Meeting**

"Who are you?"

Gabrielle lolled her head to one side and looked up at the man in the stairway. "What?" she asked groggily. She'd accidentally fallen asleep.

"Are you some sort of royal or somebody important?"

Gabrielle stared at him, collecting her thoughts. "No. I'm nobody."

He let out a frustrated sigh, Gabrielle watched him tense up. She closed her eyes, wanting to go back to sleep. She was tired; she'd stayed up the entire night hoping Lilla would come back, but she didn't, and had spent most of the day cold, asleep, and hungry.

His fists tightened. Gabrielle glanced out the small window, the sky was still light, but seemed pinkish. The sun must be setting. Gabrielle had never slept during the day.

"Why?" Gabrielle mumbled.

"What?" he snapped.

"Why?" she repeated, not expecting him to answer, he was obviously more important than her so why should he answer her questions. And Gabrielle's thoughts had been on the right track, for he quickly turned around and stomped his way up the stairs.

Gabrielle looked up at her arms; the only light was coming from the top of the stairwell, it was nearly impossible to see them in her dank dungeon. She looked across from her at the empty wall, listening to the man walk up the stairs. Then, the footsteps stopped, and she could hear two men talking (but not what they were saying). Again, there were footsteps coming down the stairs.

Gabrielle looked over and the same angry man was marching towards her.

He took her wrists from the locks, her arms instantly dropped to her side. Before Gabrielle could enjoy it he grabbed her and roughly pulled Gabrielle to her feet and began 'dragging' her up the stairs. He skipped every second step so that Gabrielle continuously tripped, scraping her shins on the cement. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"Shut up." he snapped and squeezed her arm tighter as to threaten her against saying anything else. Gabrielle did so as they approached a wooden door. The man knocked.

"Yes." a female voice replied.

Gabrielle shivered. It was _her._ Oh gods, what was going to happen? Is there where Lilla had gone? Was Lilla still there? Her heart pounded in her ears, stomach clenched.

He opened the door, and pushed Gabrielle into the room. He too was about to follow until he caught a look from her, then left with a sour expression.

Gabrielle stood in front of the closed door, staring at Xena. It was late into the night, but she still wore her armour, although she was in the process of removing her scabbard from her back. The only light in the room was from the few torches on the walls. They made a relaxed setting, but Gabrielle was to tensed to ever calm down.

"Hello." she greeted, staring into Gabrielle's green eyes.

Gabrielle lost her voice. Xena waited, but only for a moment. "Hello." she said a little more irritated.

Gabrielle took a deep breath and straightened out her back, trying to appear confident and not like she was quivering. "Hello."

_Better._Thought Xena. "What's your name?"

"Gabrielle." she spoke in a clear voice.

Xena set the sword on a table and removed the round disk from her hip. Then Xena began removing here breastplate from over her leather and let it hang from a hook on the wall. Gabrielle shifted in her spot. Still, Xena said nothing as she took a seat and began removing the bands from her arms, and then her boots. Xena did so slowly, with more care than was needed.

Gabrielle was feeling a little antsy, and the question just slipped out of her.

"Where's Lilla?"

Xena glanced up at her. "You should worry about yourself." she cautioned.

Xena got up to her set her boots with her armour. "So, I was told that you tried to offer yourself up as a sacrifice so that the other girls could stay back in your little village." Xena looked at Gabrielle questionably, but didn't take an answer. "That's a really noble thing to do." a pause. "But what made you think your life was worth more than those twenty girls' lives put together?"

Gabrielle cleared her throat nervously. "Well... they're my friends. I'd rather it was just myself who came to harm then all of them."

"And you thought my men would actually take just you?" Xena asked.

Gabrielle thought back to that moment. All she could recall was wanting the others to remain out of harm. None of them were particularly her friend. Even in the small Potedia, not everyone acquainted with each other.

"I thought I had to do something." she answered honestly.

"No. See, I don't think you really cared about those girls."

"What? Of course I care!"

"Really?" Xena raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

Gabrielle's brow furrowed. "Why don't _you _think I care?"

Xena didn't answer. She'd realized the way this argument was heading would be a waste of time, and that was something Xena didn't like to do. "No reason." Xena replied casually, walking to the window to taken in the cool night breeze. Xena could tell she was still irked with the question, and wouldn't let it go any time soon. She liked being able to take over someone in that way, though very small, it usually proved to Xena that they'd be fairly easy to manipulate in larger situations. Add to the fact that this girl was a mindless, naive no one from some village would make things ten times easier for Xena.

She would be just as easy as the other girl, so Xena took the same route.

"Do you have any skills?"

"Skills?" Gabrielle repeated.

"Skills." Xena nodded.

"What kind of skills are you looking for?" Gabrielle asked.

"The kind that will be useful to me."

Gabrielle couldn't deal in any of the areas Xena was an expert in. She'd been raised to have children. But that hadn't stopped Gabrielle from learning to read and write. Though she had the odd suspicion Xena could do the same. A bard had said _"what couldn't this woman do?"_ and Gabrielle doubted there was an answer for that. But that wasn't to say Gabrielle didn't have skills that could work. Maybe...

"I'm a bard."

"You can write?" Xena asked, slightly surprised at this. She wasn't expecting that, something else, like, 'cook'. But writing obviously meant she could read, which lead Xena to wonder where she could learn that.

"Yes." Gabrielle answered.

"You might be useful." Xena turned away from her and went towards the bed. Gabrielle still stood in her spot, watching Xena. Was she supposed to leave? Gabrielle took a few steps backwards, and then Xena suddenly spoke. In a much lighter tone. Somehow softer, and a little lost. Gabrielle was surprised it had even come from her.

"And when the first man reached the end of his journey, he found himself at the beginning."

Gabrielle stared in awe as she heard the familiar line.

"Do you know this story?" Xena asked, looking at her.

Gabrielle nodded.

Xena looked away from Gabrielle, and her tone returned to that of someone in control. That of a leader. "Go." was all she said.


	6. Hooves and Harlots

**Chapter Six - Hooves and Harlots**

Xena bit into a chunk of bread, sitting across from her was Deimos. He watched her too intently as he sipped from his cup.

"Yes?" Xena asked, meeting his eyes.

Deimos slowly set the cup down. "What's your plan?" he asked.

Xena set the bread down, thinking for a moment, then said. "We're going to send another message to the centaurs... and one to the Amazons."

Deimos's brow furrowed. "The Amazons... what for?"

"To get them to come here."

Deimos tried to decipher this. "This sounds awfully like an attempt at peace between the Amazons and the Centaurs."

Xena gave him a look. "No. I've spent all this time building up a war over nothing, I just need to push them closer to the edge. The Amazons won't know the centaurs will be coming, so when the centaurs do come..."

"A battle will ensue." Deimos finished.

Xena just nodded.

"And where will our- your men be in this situation?" he asked, noticing the fire in her eyes when he'd said 'our'.

"Out of sight, out of mind." Xena recited it as if she'd spent hours memorizing it.

Deimos cleared his throat nervously. "I don't see how them having a fight here, destroying your walls will bring both sides crumbling down."

"There's more to it than that." Xena said quietly.

Deimos was going to ask what else she could do to send the Amazons and the centaurs into an all-out massacre on each other, but he'd noticed the shift in her tone of face, and realized she was done talking about her plans.

Xena didn't trust him. She didn't trust anybody. You never knew when someone was going to turn on you. The whole time Xena had spent rebuilding her army, regaining land, there had been a fair amount of attempts on her life. They were pathetic, but people had still tried. Which proved to her she was still a threat to many. Yet her returning back to her evil ways was more questioned than when she'd declared redemption.

They sat in silence for a moment, until a thought floated into Deimos's head. "You know," he started "you got into that town, Potedia, just before Draco's men had been ordered to."

Xena sly smile came to Xena's face. "I know."

Xena knew everything.

She drew her attention to her warriors, watching the girl handing them food and drink. Lilla had to shuffle around quickly. When this many men were confided to one area with no means of entertainment (not that Xena would let them have any) besides fighting, just the sight of the young girl was enough to excite them.

"And you know he's going to want to confront you about this?" Deimos went on. "After all-"

"LET GO!" Lilla suddenly shrieked.

All eyes went to her. She'd smacked a man across the face for grabbing at her, the plate with full cups crashing to the floor, water spilled everywhere. On the man's horse-like face a red hand mark was began to show.

Quickly he hopped to his feet to pay Lilla back. Just as he was about to bring his hand down Xena stopped him.

"VARO!" Xena shouted.

He turned to his leader. The look in her eyes was enough to make him shrivel back to his seat, but not without threatening glances at Lilla.

Xena looked at Lilla, her tear filled eyes giving thanks. Xena motioned to the dishes on the floor, then returned her attention to Deimos, who had his mouth hanging open. Xena took another bite of bread, looking at Deimos questioningly.

Deimos closed his mouth and cleared his throat. "What did you do with the other one? I don't see her around."

_Gabrielle._ Xena thought.

"She's back in my room. I have her working on a few things."

"Like what?" Deimos asked.

"Things that don't concern you." Xena had set Gabrielle to work on a few scrolls for her. Her being a bard was an interesting turn in things. She wondered how some girl from a little village had learned to read and write. Had she taught herself? Interestingly enough, Xena wouldn't doubt it. She'd seen Gabrielle to be fairly bold when she first arrived.

Early that morning Xena had met with her again, she was still at angst around Xena, but was still on steady footing with her nerve. And the uneasiness between them had lessened a dab, mostly because Gabrielle tried to stand equally with Xena. To show she wasn't going to buckle down.

Xena had admired it for a moment, but if it continued she might have to teach Gabrielle who stood where.

As Lilla was clumsily carrying the cups away, Xena grabbed her skirt to stop her. Lilla's dress was ragged with tears in it, on shoulder had a large rip in it, showing a scar on the shoulder blade.

Xena quickly drank the rest of her water and set the cup on top of the pile Lilla had. Lilla looked at Xena and nodded another set of thanks before racing off.

Xena pushed her chair back and got to her feet. "Come on." she said to Deimos.

He got to his feet and began following Xena outside into the hot sun."How are you getting the Amazons to come here?"

Xena stopped in her tracks and turned to face Deimos. He really wasn't going to stay content with being more in the dark than he usually was. But... Xena didn't see the harm in telling him this, she was still working out other aspects of the plan. The ones that were much closer to her goal.

"I'm going to have the Amazons here to talk to them about this war of theirs, and hopefully if things go right, the centaurs can arrive moments after."

"Are you going to kill one of them?" he asked, referring to the Amazons.

"No, it's too soon for that."

There was a short silence.

"And what are you going to do when Draco confronts you about your intrusion on his business."

Xena turned her back to him and continued walking. "That's between me and him, Deimos.


	7. Blue Eyes

**Chapter Seven - Blue Eyes**

The small token fit comfortably in Gabrielle's hand. She ran her fingers over its smooth surface, in the very middle there was a dent, but other than that, this was just a regular virilus token. Gabrielle had never seen one before. For some reason it made her want to smile. It was like a little treasure. After carefully setting it back where she found it, Gabrielle returned to the parchment and ink on the table.

She had finished what Xena had asked._Told_ would be a better way of putting it. Gabrielle never had to write so neatly, there wasn't a spot of ink to be seen, the words were in a perfectly straight line, and she had it written word for word as Xena had said. Gabrielle had to recite it back to Xena twice, demonstrating her well acquired memory.

Xena also told Gabrielle to find her when she finished.

Gabrielle had been working up the courage for over an hour.

The thought of having to face Xena was nerve wracking. Xena stared down at her with those sapphire eyes, truly able to make someone feel worthless. And it was only Gabrielle's meek courage that made her try to stand on equal ground with the warrior princess. This made Xena angry. Her eyes were amazing at conveying emotions, and when Xena was angry she shot daggers at you through those orbs.

But Gabrielle was determined to stand strong. For some reason, Gabrielle knew Xena wasn't all bad. She had faith in everyone, anyone. Even the person who had her taken from her home and family. That would be Gabrielle's downfall.

What caused her to have such a faith in Xena was a curious thing. It had happened earlier, in the morning.

Xena had presented Gabrielle with the parchment and ink, telling her what she was supposed to write. Gabrielle asked why (and she was learning it wasn't smart to question Xena's motives) and Xena answered with "Because I said so."

After Xena's crude remark Gabrielle unintentionally made a face. Xena's lip turned to a snarl. "You know I could kill you." Xena threatened. Gabrielle looked at her hands, and then made contact with the blue.

"So why don't you?" Gabrielle asked quietly. Xena didn't answer.

It seemed as if Xena was thinking back on something. A very unpleasant memory and Gabrielle saw that twinkle in her blue eyes. Xena was regretting something. The pain shone in her eyes, and Gabrielle could see this was immensely rare, for Xena to show any sort of emotion that wasn't sarcastic amusement or anger.

As quickly a it had been there, it was gone. Xena left Gabrielle to work, but she was haunted with the look in Xena's eyes. She wanted to see it again.

Gabrielle peered out the window. It was another blazing day, not even a soft breeze to replenish people of the heat. She as wondering when the dry spell would end when she spotted Xena marching into what looked like a stable. Gabrielle sighed, and grabbed the parchment, handling it carefully. It was so perfect; she didn't want it to be altered by some sort of incident.

Gabrielle scurried outside, pleased that she no longer got curious glances from the men. They had easily gotten used to it, but they didn't seem very pleased. Gabrielle moved towards the stables when something caught her eye.

Peering outside, blocking the sun from her face with an incredibly filthy hand was Lilla. Gabrielle stared at her sister in surprise. Lilla motion for her to come over there. Gabrielle glanced at the stables then went to her sister.

Lilla pulled her inside.

It was dark; Gabrielle had trouble adjusting to it. When she could just make things out, she saw a man lying on a poorly constructed bed, sputtering at the water Lilla was pouring down his throat. A stale odor was floating around, Gabrielle coughed.

"Lilla?" she asked.

The man sitting on the table leaned up to look at Gabrielle, and then fell back down into raspy breaths. Lilla brushed the dark bangs from his face then set the cup he'd been drinking from down.

"Gabrielle!" she shot towards her sister and hugged her tightly. Gabrielle squeezed her sister, crumpling Xena's messages, but not caring.

"You're alright!"Lilla said, relieved. Lilla released Gabrielle and looked at her with a pathetic smile.

Gabrielle took Lilla's image in. Her hair was coated with dirt and grease and tangled into knots that jumbled around her dirty face. There was blood smeared on her face and hands. The olive green dress she wore was ragged and had blood soaked into it.

"What is Xena having you do?" Gabrielle asked, not taking her eyes from the blood stains.

Lilla looked at her bare feet, then back at her sister. "_Everything._I bring people food, I clean up their messes, I've been working in here, 'healing'-" this brought a laugh from the man, which brought him to a coughing fit. Lilla turned to him but he quickly settled down. "I've had to take care of horses, I've been-"

Gabrielle held her sisters face. "That's - that's..." Lilla's shoulders shook as she burst into sobs.

"I can't do this." she cried.

Gabrielle hugged her sister again, rubbing her back soothingly. "Yes you can. You can do this. We can do this." Gabrielle's words were of no comfort.

Lilla gently pushed Gabrielle away, wiping tears from her face. Gabrielle had never known her sister to stop crying so quickly. She was such an emotional girl. Lilla had never started crying and stopped in only thirty seconds.

"Does she have you do these things?" Lilla asked.

Gabrielle crossed her arms, shuffling her feet nervously. How could she tell Lilla that besides being denied hygiene, she was being treated well for their situation? "I..." she didn't think she could."Yes. She is. Aside from being in here that is… I was just about to go to the stables..."

Lilla nodded. "She's an interesting horse, huh?"

Gabrielle nodded slowly. "…Very... I... I better go, Lilla."

Lilla nodded. "Yes, if Xe- if _she_ catches us... well... she might not be so kind."

Gabrielle nodded and backed away towards the door. "Does she scare you?" Lilla asked.

Gabrielle looked at Lilla for a long moment. "Sometimes. But I try not to let her. She may have her hands on our situation, but she doesn't control our fate. We do."

"Do we?" Lilla asked sarcastically. "I thought the Fates chose our path."

Gabrielle sighed. "We have control, Lilla."

Lilla gave Gabrielle a sisterly peck on the cheek and ushered her out the door. Why was Lilla being treated like such a slave while Gabrielle really didn't have it so bad?

Gabrielle smoothed out Xena's messages, they still seemed perfect. She saw a man eyeing her suspiciously, but Gabrielle just ignored him and entered the stable. She was a little nervous, but the thought of the twinkle kept her steady.


	8. The Steed

**Chapter Eight - The Steed**

Xena stared into the horse's black eyes. She leant against a wooden pole with her arms crossed, a few feet ahead of her was the tan mare, staring straight back at her.

This horse was making Xena very angry. Whenever she tried to harness or mount it, the horse would put up a little fit, but naturally complied to the warrior. Even when she sat on its back the horse never stayed still. It wasn't a wild horse, it was trained. Xena knew that much. It could respond to whistles (if it wanted to), so there was no excuse for it being finicky.

Aside from that Xena was bothered most by the way it looked at her. As if it _knew _her, the things she was feeling, the things in her mind. That horse looked at Xena like it knew her story, and with actually sincerity. But it was a horse. A horse she hadn't met till a few days ago when it was straggling around the camp. She'd been easy enough to wrangle, not until Xena had her put in the stable did she start acting so vexing. Like a certain blonde Xena had in her company.

Gabrielle was always there with questions about her sister, Xena couldn't take it. And even when she wasn't around the girl's annoying voice echoed in her mind. Not even threats could shut her up, Xena had to resort to a death threat that morning, albeit a very minor one, and the girl continued to test her patience.

Xena cracked her knuckles then reached her hand out to touch the mare's nose, she whinnied in objection and stepped back. There was no emotion on Xena's face as she dropped her hand back to her side, still staring into the dark eyes. There was something oddly familiar about them.

"Um... Excuse me."

Xena turned to look at the blonde, who wordlessly stuck the parchment out at her. She took it from Gabrielle and unfolded it, staring down at the writing, impressed. So she really could write. Impressive. The words Xena had told her to write were printed neatly in readable black ink. Gabrielle's attention was fixxed on the horse when Xena looked at her.

"Thank you." she said, slightly amused at the shock on Gabrielle's face.

"Y-you're welcome."

Was it that surprising? Xena folded the parchment and tucked it into the breast of her clothing, where it was undoubtly safe, then returned her attention to the green eyed girl. There was a silence as Xena studied the small one. When Gabrielle opened her mouth to speak Xena interrupted her.

"Your sister is just through that door on the right, outside." Xena paused. "Why don't you go see if she's alright."

She ignored Gabrielle's shocked expression.

"Go." Xena spoke more sternly.

Flustered, she thanked Xena and raced out of the stable.

Xena watched her, then slowly drew her attention back to the steed. She narrowed her eyebrows, reaching her hand back up, pleased when it complied and allowed her to rub the soft nose. _Much better._

* * *

><p><strong>Just to the people who've been reading the story, I know it's really slow moving and tedious and kinda boring and may seem kind of useless but it's all important so thanks for pulling through it all :) the story's going to move forward a lot in these next chapters, so stick around.<strong>


	9. Amazons at War

**Chapter Nine - Amazons at War**

"I half expected you to come with soldiers."

Xena didn't respond as she sat down across from the woman, only staring, taking in her image. Thick black locks hung over her shoulders and she watched Xena with stone eyes, but a curiousity twinkled, mostly a curiousity towards the warrior princess. She sat straight and tall, very regal like, giving off an air of royalty. An air only an Amazon queen could posses and potray so confidently.

"The reasons for this meeting are a bit... suspicious." Melosa said in a very defined tone.

"Which part?"

"All of it. You show up, although not unexpected, to talk to me about a war that, in retrospect, has nothing to do with you."

Every word Melosa spoke was true. "Why do you think I'm here?" Xena asked, pretending to be interested in her hands.

"There are a number of reasons." Melosa answered.

"Care to share one?"

The Amazon queen forced Xena to meet her eyes. "When you first started showing interest in this, I showed a bit of interest in.. well you. You have quite the history with the centaurs." Melosa leaned forward, listening to what Xena had to say. "Why don't you tell me a bit about that."

Xena did enjoy meeting another person so on par with her level. This woman could work her way around a conversation and no doubt a fight. Xena wondered how it would be to go head to head with Melosa. Thrilling came to mind.

Xena took in a deep breath. "No doubt you've heard we don't stand on solid ground."

A smile slowly spread to Melosa's features. "No, you don't. And here I sit, wondering if that works in my favour."

There was a long silence as they took a moment to stare at eachother. Finally, Xena broke the silence.

"This little war of yours, it's not the focal interest. Not for me."

"Oh? And what is?" Melosa leaned forward.

"I do this in the interest of peace."

Melosa raised an eyebrow, stiffling a laugh. "I find that extremely hard to believe. Your recent exploits don't show you off as the good guy."

"I know," Xena looked away for a moment then drew herself back to the woman's gaze "but this little war of yours interferes with _certain _plans of my own, so I'd really like nothing more than to get it over with. I have things to do, and you are in the way of it all." she paused "I won't act as an enemy to the Amazons, but don't expect my men to jump to your defence."

Melosa leaned back, taking this in. "I'm sure you've said the same thing to the centaurs."

"Not in so many words."

"Disgusting animals, you know." Melosa said, Xena just stared with her usual smirk. Melosa got to her feet, taking a few steps from the table Xena sat. "You know, it is an aweful long way to come, only to say that."

"Not really," Xena shrugged "I like to keep my neutrality very secure, and understood."

"In that case, has anything been left unsaid?"

Xena opened her mouth to speak, then paused. "No."

"I suppose I'll have to take your neutrality as some form of support." Xena got to her feet. "I will have an Amazon see you to the edge of our territory. I suppose it's the least I can do after you came all this way."

Xena nodded in silent thanks.

"Perfect."

* * *

><p>Xena held onto the reins of the dark brown horse, not entirely pleased that she was still unable to ride the palamino one. She was still edgy, but Xena was determined to break her.<p>

"You really came all this way just to tell us you're not taking sides?"

Xena looked downwards at the girl who'd spoken. Her escort, Terreis, didn't match her eyes, just continued forward, weapon in hand.

"Yes." Xena answered curtly.

"That's a little suspicous."

Xena didn't respond, she only pulled on the reins and the horse stopped in his tracks. She lowered herself to the ground and looked around their forest surroundings, the smell of wilderness was potent. Small woodland animals moved about, the wind rustled the leaves only slightly, but other than that, Xena could guess she was alone with the princess. "Is it?"

"Yes." the girl answered, taking a step back, eyes watching Xena's every move.

Xena noticed this and chuckled. "Calm down, I just need to adjust the saddle." and Xena did just that, tightening the straps only slightly, but once finished she didn't bother remounting the horse, it was easier to walk and lead him. Xena noticed they were drawing closer to the edge of the Amazon territory.

"I trust you'll be fine from here on." the princess said, Xena looked her up and down, sizing the small woman up.

"Don't you find it a little... suspicous, they sent you, the Amazon Princess, to escort me out of your territory, alone?"

The girl looked Xena up and down for a moment, instictively moving backwards.

Xena looked at her horse for a moment then back to the girl. "No. But you should find it foolish." Xena smirked, not even giving the girl a chance to run.


End file.
